


your funny little smile

by pettigrace



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Comic-Con, Cosplay, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 16:50:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4108048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettigrace/pseuds/pettigrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry attends a comic con and accidently runs into a really nice stranger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your funny little smile

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really a fan of that idea that in the Flash universe, the Marvel franchise actually does exist.

Barry smiles as he looks at himself in the mirror, stroking over the fabric on his left arm that just _feels_ so much like metal, you'd think he actually wears a prosthesis. His hands find their way up to his hair, pulling softly at the extensions to make sure they stay in place. They're basically only clips but feel and look as if they were his real hair. He looks over to his bed and finds the fake gun on top of it and can't hide a grin. Being friends with experimental scientific geniuses is brilliant - especially when you want to cosplay one of your favourite comic heroes.

They've put a lot of work into each of their costumes - Cisco has been as eager to cosplay this guy from The Walking Dead as he's been and Caitlin just _really_ admires Ginny Weasley - and as he puts on his mask, Barry thinks he makes quite an awesome Winter Soldier.

Cisco has asked why he doesn't go as Captain America himself (since they could've easily fixed the problem with his hair colour – artificial wigs that look and feel like real hair really weren't that difficult for them to make) and Barry can see why he'd think so. He can identify with Steve, being this scrawny kid that gets beaten up because he's fighting for what is right, because growing up, he has pretty much been the same. And even though Steve gets turned into this bigger, stronger guy who becomes a symbol for justice and freedom, he's always found himself quite fascinated with Bucky who's always been there for Steve, been _his_ symbol for justice, has known how to deal with a fight – and truly, while he may be a bit like Steve, he'd like to be like Bucky.

And isn't that what cosplaying is actually for? To become something you've always hoped to be? Technically, he doesn't want to be the _Winter Soldier_ , not the modified and wrong version of Bucky, but with the second movie coming out recently, he'd thought he'd be recognized more easily this way. And if he put so much work into this outfit, he does want it to be appreciated.

It's only a convention in St. Louis that they're attending, not _the_ Comic Con in San Diego, but Barry is pretty sure he's never seen that many people in one place – and especially not that many people interested in the same things as him. He almost feels like he's in heaven, walking from booth to booth, admiring other people's costumes and getting praise for his own. He really enjoys his time, answers people asking about his outfit, gives them tips, looks at all the merchandise and _oh god_ , he doesn't even know what to buy and he can feel the hole in his wallet already.

They've walked through the big hall together once before buying anything, just looking around for the moment, trying to figure out where they should go first. Of course, with their different interests within this world, there's no way they'd all be satisfied if they stay together. So quickly they decide to split apart and meet again in about two hours.

As Cisco and Caitlin move over to the TV show section, Barry heads back to the comic books. He could swear he's seen some YouTube celebrity he's encountered a few times when browsing the internet, and he overheard people mentioning that Stan Lee might be there. He tries his best not to let it get into his head too much, while it would be _awesome_ to meet the creator of so many fictional characters he came to appreciate, he surely wouldn't be the only one who wants to see him and with Barry's luck, he would've been gone before he could even take a look at him. 

He sees people with small children who look up to him in awe, some even ask if they could take a picture with him. While he feels a bit weird about that - he's no professional cosplays artist and by far not one of the best -, he does his best to smile as he nods and makes them happy, too. 

He does buy a few things, some old comic issues that have been missing in his collection for a long time, a few shirts and a new bag (a purple one with a black arrow on it - he'd always liked Hawkeye) since he needed a new one anyways. And when he checks the time on his phone, he notices the two hours have almost gone by already. He makes a mental note about how far he's come in this section - there are still a lot of booths he hasn't had a second look at yet - and promises himself to come back here once he's grabbed something to eat with Caitlin and Cisco. 

He should be rushing to their meeting place, probably, since he's only got a few minutes left but how could he when there's something new to see every few moments? It's not like they're used to him being on time, so he lets himself be taken in by all the amazing things happening around him. 

Finally he arrives but neither Cait nor Cisco are anywhere in sight. Shooting a look at his phone, he sees it's only shortly after their agreed time and that there are no messages that they're already gone or something like that, so he decides to wait for them. He watches the people passing him, amazed by the differences among the crowd. There's a fair share of women - probably non-binary people as well, his mind tells him -, old people with walking aids who chat with people younger than him, telling them how there hasn't been a convention like this when they were younger. It feels overwhelming, being surrounded by so many different people, to be able to hear snippets from so many conversations, breathe in so many smells, but to him, it also kind of feels like homecoming. He feels safe and like _himself_ and while Iris and Joe have never told him he was annoying while geeking out, he can always see they have a hard time listening to him. Here he could walk up to someone, randomly mention the latest issue of Deadpool and they'd maybe even get more excited than him. It's an entire different world. 

Someone comes up to him. A man, probably a few years older than him, who wears a shirt with an arrow that points upwards and "CAN LIFT MJÖLNIR" written underneath, makes his way up to him. 

Barry smiles at him, expecting to be asked for a picture, but raises an eyebrow when the man asks if he's looking for his friend. He's puzzled for a moment before his mind tells him that the man has probably seen him walk around with Cisco and Caitlin earlier and nods then. 

The man smiles and says that he knows where he is and that he totally needs a picture of the two of them together. Barry has no idea why he'd say so, as far as he knows The Walking Dead has nothing to do with Marvel, but he tags along anyway. 

It's only when the man stops that he realised it's not Cisco he's been brought to. And neither is it Caitlin, of course. Instead, he faces a stranger, dressed up as _Captain America_. It's a really good cosplay, the uniform in the design from the second movie, tight and showing off on the right places-- His hair might be a bit too bright and while he's not as tall or buff as Chris Evans, he looks _amazing_. He's seen a few Steve cosplayers around here - not as many as you'd expect, actually - but he's certain that this is the best. 

He notices Barry as well, their gazes meet and Barry feels how his knees almost go weak at the sight of this bright blue sparkling at him. 

The man who brought him here is oblivious to the fact that they don't greet each other at all, that they don't seem to be friends - let alone know each other. Instead, he almost pushes Barry against Captain America and asks for a picture again. 

The blond raises an eyebrow at him and when Barry gives him an apologetic smile, he shrugs and wraps an arm around his shoulders. 

The man and about twenty other people take their pictures and when they're finally gone, Cap releases Barry. 

"So, that was weird.", Cap laughs. 

"Yeah, um, he kinda thought we belong together.", Barry says and scratches his forehead. "Sorry, he thought you were my lost friend."

"It's okay.", Cap smiles at him. "Awesome outfit." 

For the first time since he's come here, Barry blushes. It's been okay to have people tell him he looks great and then continue walking, but it's another thing when a handsome stranger he's actually having a conversation with and in whose arms he's basically just been says that right into his face. "Um- uh, thank you. You, er, you too." 

"We really do fit together.", Cap continues. "I'm Eddie." 

"Barry.", he answers and takes the extended hand. He may be holding on for too long, but that would just be because he's been feeling hot the entire day and this man's hand is just so refreshingly cold for some reason. When he lets it go, he asks, “So, do you come to something like this often?”

Eddie raises an eyebrow at him and starts grinning and _only then_ Barry notices how dumb that has sounded.

“I did not-- God, this is not-- I just wanted to ask if it's your first convention because it is for me and your cosplay looks so great you probably do something like this every weekend and don't hear the end of this and-- sorry.”, he adds when Eddie only blinks at him. “I'm kinda-- weird.”

“It's okay, it's cute.”, Eddie chuckles and before Barry can even react to this amazing stranger calling _him_ cute, he continues, “Um, no. That's my first con, too. Was kinda a long drive, I came here from Keystone.”

“Keystone? Wow! Um, I'm-- I'm from Central City, actually.”

“Hey, that isn't that far away! Maybe we could meet up some time? I barely know anyone who's into Captain America, actually.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”, Barry says and rolls his eyes. “I just don't get how anyone would not like him?”

“Can you believe my ex said that he's _lame_?”, Eddie says, spitting out the last word like it's some old piece of hamburger he doesn't like at all. “... Though this is not the reason I broke up with him, by the way.”

Barry feels a twist in his stomach when he hears Eddie refer to his ex as a _he_ , tries his best not to let it get to his mind-- he wouldn't even have a chance with him anyway, not when he's him and Eddie is so incredibly beautiful--

“So, what do you say? Can I add you on facebook?”, Eddie smiles at him, showing his big white teeth that are just _shining_ at him.

Barry can't do anything but nod, takes the phone out of Eddie's hands as if on autopilot and types his name into the search bar. He finds his profile easily and hands it back to Eddie.

He watches as Eddie sends him a friend request, listens to him when he asks, “So many people got a picture of us together, can I take one too?”

“Um,” Barry starts, not even sure what he's planned to answer. He's still quite puzzled that Eddie, who makes a perfect Steve at least appearance-wise, thinks his outfit is great as well. He's thought so too, he's believed all the people who'd complimented him before, but it's entirely different when the man who just so happens to cosplay the counterpart of your character perfectly does it. Before he knows any better, he nods and feels Eddie wrap his arm around his waist almost immediately.

He's getting pulled closer, their temples touching and though this is so overwhelming – they're closer than before, _holy crap,_ he can smell Eddie's _shampoo –_ he does manage to smile when Eddie tells him to.

Eddie shows him the picture when it's done, they do look nice together, he's been right. They're both smiling brightly, are a perfect combination of dark and light--

“Next time, we're gonna make an in-character photoshoot.”, Eddie says with a smile as he taps a few things down on his phone. “I'm actually setting this as my profile pic so you'll have no way of getting your way out of this.”

“That sounds kinda creepy.”, is the only thing Barry manages to say and he immediately starts swearing at himself mentally. A handsome guy whom he's only just met takes a picture with him and decides to put it where everyone can see it – and he makes a dumb comment about it. Really great.

“Oh, um, is that even okay? Sorry, I kinda got over myself here.”, Eddie gives him an apologetic look. “I can delete it again, it's--”

“No, no! It's fine-- I just meant-- that, um, that was a joke.”, Barry tells him.

“I suppose it did sound a bit creepy.”, Eddie admits and looks down at his phone again. “Well then, Barry Allen, wasn't there a friend you were looking for?”

Oh yeah. _Right_.

“I'm sure we'll meet again, after all, we're facebook friends now and I guess that's kind of a big thing.”, Barry says before he can stop himself. He does hate himself sometimes.

“Of course! I'll totally text you.”, Eddie grins and holds out his hand again. “Goodbye then, Barry.”

“Bye.”, Barry breathes and shakes his hand.

Then his feet carry him away, back to the place where he's been supposed to meet Caitlin and Cisco. He ignores everything around him, doesn't notice the children looking up to him this time. He's pretty sure the big grin that come to his face destroys the look ever more than the curious expression he's worn earlier but he _does not care_. He has to concentrate on Cait and Cisco waiting for him or else he would around to shoot one last look at Eddie who would totally notice and then he'd make a fool out of himself once more-- No, he can't do that.

He sees that they're waiting for him, luckily they don't look too pissed. He isn't even sure how long they've been waiting for him, it could've been minutes, it could've been hours, maybe even days.

He can't hide a grin when he tells them, “Guys, this place is heaven.”

 


End file.
